


Always need to be closer

by CaptainGay



Series: Good Love [2]
Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Non-Explicit Sex, oh and there's fluff!, the girls are 17 so..., the other girls are mentioned less
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:14:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29145756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainGay/pseuds/CaptainGay
Summary: Sequel to Good love is hard to find.Leah is finally ready to take the next step in her relationship with Fatin. She gets some help from unexpected parties while trying to set up the perfect day for her and Fatin.
Relationships: Fatin Jadmani/Leah Rilke
Series: Good Love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139225
Comments: 11
Kudos: 144





	Always need to be closer

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another Aly & AJ song for this duo, I can't help myself. Title from With You.
> 
> I did say I had a few ideas about how to expand on my previous Leatin fic. Well, here they are!
> 
> This was barely edited and not beta read.
> 
> Feel free to stop by my tumblr i-can-see-queerly-now to send me an ask if you like. Comments and kudos are appreciated! <3
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been two weeks since Fatin’s confession. Another fourteen days of being on that shitty fucking island. Two weeks of staring out into the never-ending waves, searching for any specks on the horizon that could be a boat. Two weeks of eyeing the sky for a glint of an airplane. Two weeks of watching the other girls closely, trying to memorize their habits and schedules.

It was getting tiring, spinning theories around in her mind. But she couldn’t stop. Not unless she was able to occupy her mind with something else.  _ “Not as much as I love you.” _ She replayed that moment over and over again when she began to feel the paranoia set in. Leah focused on the sound of her voice, the look of surprise on Fatin’s face when she had realized what she had said, the feel of her lips pressed against her own afterwards. It helped ease her mind, kept her from spiraling out of control.

Fatin’s touch did wonders to ground her to reality as well. A hand in hers, knees pressed together as they sat, shoulders brushing against the other as they walked, arms around her, and all the kisses. Kisses to her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her hands, her shoulders, and sometimes, when they were able to abscond into the woods for an hour, to her neck.

The other girls had been patient with them, not bringing up that night Leah had shouted her undying love for Fatin on the beach. The first time Leah kissed Fatin in front of the others (Fatin had occasionally pressed a kiss to Leah’s forehead or her shoulder before then, but only under cover of night when they laid down to sleep) was what broke their silence. They had all been sitting around the fire, starting to eat dinner. Fatin grabbed enough food for both her and Leah.

“Goat and lychees just for you, your majesty,” Fatin said over-dramatically with a bow, presenting the jerky and berries with open palms to Leah.

Dot and Rachel fake-heaved. Shelby swooned and jokingly said to Toni sitting next to her, “why don’t you ever say such sweet things to me, babe?” causing Toni to roll her eyes. Martha giggled. Nora was hidden directly behind Fatin, so Leah had no idea what her reaction was. Leah sheepishly took her share of the food. She knew she was bright red, the blush probably still very visible despite her sunburn.

“You’re such a fucking sap,” Leah tried to hide her shyness by teasing Fatin, who took a seat next to her.

“Only for you,” Fatin said with such sincerity, Leah suddenly didn’t care how embarrassed she was by Fatin’s little show. She just wanted to kiss her.

Leah took her free hand and reached over to grab Fatin’s chin. She turned her head towards her and pulled her in for a kiss. Fatin stilled for a second before melting into it. It was rapidly growing in intensity when they were interrupted by Dot clearing her throat. Leah retracted immediately, face quickly heating up again. Fatin had a goofy smile on her face (that Leah would tease her about later) and it lessened Leah’s embarrassment.

Everyone was staring at them, expressions ranging from dumbstruck to knowing smirks. Leah tried not to look any of them in the eyes.

“I really hope you guys don’t do  _ that _ ,” Dot made circling motions with her hand at Leah and Fatin, “around camp very often. I don’t think I can stomach double the usual amount of sexual energy. Seeing Toni and Shelby give each other bedroom eyes is plenty of nightmare fuel for me, thanks.”

Toni and Shelby flushed and fidgeted, looking at anything but the other girls around them. They had obviously not realized they weren’t as subtle as they thought.

“Why, Dorothy, if I didn’t know any better, I would say you sounded jealous.” Fatin turned to Dot with her usual flirtatious teasing (Leah and Fatin had talked about it before, but Leah wasn’t actually ever bothered by their flirty banter).

“Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” Dot shot back.

“What can I say?” Fatin handed her food to Leah and slinked toward Dot, who just stared her down, challenging her to get closer. “I  _ love _ love.”

Then, Fatin grabbed Dot’s face so she couldn’t escape and placed a big, wet kiss on her cheek, complete with over-exaggerated kissing noises. Dot froze and Leah laughed at her shocked expression. Fatin pulled back with a “mwah” as her lips left Dot’s cheek. The other girl regained her composure immediately and wiped the saliva from her face, making a show of rubbing it on her pants.

“You’re fucking gross,” Dot said, voice lacking any sort of disgust. Leah saw her mouth twitch, a smile threatening to break her obviously faked expression of annoyance.

“You love me,” Fatin tossed over her shoulder as she moved to sit back down next to Leah.

Dot just scoffed in reply, a smile on her face. The rest of the night went smoothly after that. Shelby talked excitedly about going on double dates after they got off the island. It was fun to imagine, if Leah forgot about all the issues and questions that surrounded it (when were they getting off the island? Was there even rescue coming? Would they separate afterwards and go back home? Would they fall out of contact? Was Fatin still planning on moving to LA?). Leah pushed those worries away, knowing they would only resurface later during one of her spirals. For that night, she forced herself to feel happy and focus on the feeling of Fatin pressed against her side.

Dot’s words had haunted her later that night as she lay in Fatin’s arms. Fatin had long since fallen asleep, but Leah had kept turning the words over and over again in her mind. Dot had said “sexual energy” and the near constant tugging sensation in her lower gut made itself known. Leah had successfully ignored it then, but now in Fatin’s embrace it was impossible to forget.

For the past two weeks Leah’s desires had been building up inside her. Her and Fatin’s impromptu and infrequent make-out sessions in the woods had relieved some of her sexual tension, but only during those stolen moments. Afterwards, she left them feeling unsated and the pressure inside just intensified each time. She didn’t dare think about taking care of it herself. Leah hadn’t done that since the early days on the island (and she was both ashamed and disgusted to remember that she had thought of Jeff those few times) and she knew she would never get enough time to herself to do it anyway.

Leah just wanted Fatin  _ so damn badly _ and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold out for. She had almost broken a few times. When Fatin’s hand was placed a little too high on her thigh or when Fatin sucked a little too hard on the pulse point on her neck and Leah worried for a moment that she had left a mark (not that she minded if the girls saw a hickey on her neck, she was just trying to keep some sort of control on the situation so that making-out didn’t turn into something Leah wasn’t sure she was ready for).

It had been two weeks and Leah was ready  _ now _ . Still, she didn’t want to just drag Fatin away to quickly find a little grove and rush through it to be back around the fire within an hour. She wanted to savor it, for it to be special. So instead of sleeping that night (which she wouldn’t have gotten anyways with how hot and bothered she was at just having Fatin’s hand accidentally slip under her shirt to graze against her stomach as the girl behind her slept) she formed a plan.

The next morning Leah placed her rock under Toni’s for water duty. She had only gotten about three hours of sleep, but her plans left her excited and rejuvenated despite the headache that lasted the whole day. Toni was fit, one of the two actually athletic people out of the eight, and it gave Leah hope that her plan might actually go smoothly.

Leah approached Toni as she packed away the empty water bottles into her drawstring bag. It was important that she asked her for help before they left camp. Leah was grateful the only other person nearby was Rachel, who was out of earshot, giving herself a quick rinse in the water, and who also was not the type of person to stick her nose in other people’s business.

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

Toni looked up at Leah from where she squatted by the fire. Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion as she searched Leah’s face for something. What it was, Leah didn’t know. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and waited for Toni to respond.

“Ask away,” Toni turned back to the bottles and her bag.

“Can we bring the suitcase to fill with water? Along with the bottles.”

Toni pulled the strings tight, closing the bag after having put all her bottles inside. She stood and looked at Leah with a curious expression again. This time, Leah looked away nervously.

“Why?”

“To bring back extra water.” Leah picked at her cuticles.

“I know that. But why? What do we need the extra water for?”

Leah looked at Toni now. She bit her lip, a little part of her brain warning her not to trust anyone. She pushed that thought aside.

“I hoped that… Fatin and I could have the waterfall to ourselves tomorrow.”

She sucked in a breath and tried to get her rapid heartbeat under control. She hadn’t explicitly told Toni  _ why _ she wanted to be alone with Fatin the next day and she hoped she didn’t have to say it out loud.

Toni’s eyebrows shot up and a look of understanding passed over her face. She smiled smugly at Leah and she felt her face heat up. Toni definitely got what she was implying.

“Oh, so you want to bring back extra water  _ today _ so you have an excuse for  _ tomorrow _ when you plan to take  _ Fatin _ to the  _ waterfall _ so you two can finally  _ fuck _ .”

With every teasing word that came out of Toni’s mouth, Leah felt her blush grow deeper and spread further across her body.

“What the fuck did I just come back to?”

Leah whipped around to see Rachel walking up to the fire. She was sure by now her blush had reached her ears and covered her neck.

“Leah asked me to play wingwoman to help her get laid tomorrow,” Toni said casually.

“Oh. Congrats?” Rachel sat on one of the logs around the fire.

Leah was frozen, not sure how to respond to what was happening around her.

“To me or to Leah?”

Rachel shrugged and looked over at the two girls across the fire.

“Both, I guess.” She paused then turned her attention to Leah, “if you need me to cover for you tomorrow, like keep the others away from wherever you’re gonna  _ do it _ , I can do that.”

“Why would you do that?” Leah asked, confusion written all over her face.

Rachel shrugged again then said, “I wouldn’t want to stumble on you and Fatin  _ getting it on _ in the woods. I don’t think anyone else would like that either.”

Her words were joking, but Leah would be lying if she said she didn’t think there was genuine care behind her words. She wouldn’t point it out to Rachel, their friendship was tentative, having only had a real conversation while alone together a handful of times. And Rachel tried hard to keep up her tough-girl appearance even when everyone knew that she had actually grown to like the others.

“So it’s settled,” Toni’s voice interrupted Leah’s thoughts. “Rachel and I will play wingwomen and you, Rilke, will get to have amazing, uninterrupted sex with your girlfriend.”

_ Girlfriend _ . Toni had said it so easily. Leah’s stomach dropped. She and Fatin hadn’t ever actually talked about their relationship. They just kind of became a  _ thing _ without discussing what that  _ thing _ was. It seemed she had something else to look forward to the next day and she didn’t know whether the sex or the talk about their status made her more nervous.

* * *

The next morning, Toni and Rachel made true to their promise to play wingwomen for Leah. The tasks had been distributed as such: Toni and Fatin on food duty, Rachel and Shelby on water, Nora on fire, Leah on wood, Dot on cleaning, and Martha on rest day. Then, when everyone else had dispersed, Rachel switched her rock with Leah and Toni convinced Shelby to switch hers with Fatin.

“Come on,” Leah stood in front of Fatin, offering her a hand to help her stand from her seat by the fire.

Fatin took it and stood. She squinted at Leah, confused as to what was happening.

“Why are you still here?” Fatin looked around at camp. “And why is Toni not?”

Leah took her hand and led her to the task list. Fatin looked at the painted rocks, then over to Leah, looking even more confused.

“Just go with it,” Leah said with more confidence than she felt.

She began to lead Fatin toward the woods. Fatin followed, but continuously shot questioning glances over at Leah, who pointedly ignored them.

“If we’re on water duty now, shouldn’t we be bringing the water bottles?” Fatin looked over her shoulder at camp, but Leah just tugged on her hand to keep her walking.

“No need, Toni and I brought plenty back yesterday to last us until tomorrow.”

That seemed to make something click in Fatin’s mind.

“Ah, so you’ve had this planned, have you?”

Leah nodded.

“Wait… what exactly is  _ this _ ?” Fatin sounded nervous and, if Leah wasn’t reading too much into it, excited.

She looked over at Fatin and gave her her best attempt at a sultry smile. It seemed to work when she saw Fatin swallow and stare at her with darkened eyes.

They walked to the falls in relative silence. Occasionally Fatin would ask Leah what she had planned or would make guesses about it (she never guessed correctly and each one became more and more outlandish and silly, Leah couldn’t tell if it was Fatin’s attempt to make Leah feel at ease or make herself feel at ease) and every time Leah would just tell her to be patient and that she would tell her when they got there. They held hands nearly the entire time, only breaking apart when the trail forced them to walk single-file, but they instantly reached out for each other when the path widened.

When they got to the waterfall, Leah was surprised Fatin hadn’t demanded answers about what they were doing there. Instead, she let Leah lead her to the water’s edge without a peep. Leah felt sweaty from their hike up. She also hadn’t taken an “island bath” (as Shelby had called it) in days. She had sand in her hair and dirt caked to her skin. She didn’t want to be gross and grimy during her and Fatin’s first time, though she knew deep down that Fatin wouldn’t mind.

Leah released Fatin’s hand and began to take off her shirt. She felt self-conscious suddenly. She had been shirtless in front of the girls plenty of times before. Fatin had seen her naked twice (the second time was an accident, Leah had thought she had walked far enough away from the camp to not be found while she took as close to a real bath as possible. It was on a day before she flung herself into the ocean, so she and Fatin weren’t as close then). It shouldn’t have felt weird stripping down to her underwear to swim, but it did. The knowledge of what she and Fatin were going to be doing later made her anxieties spike.

“Did we come up here just to swim?” Fatin asked and Leah could hear that she didn’t believe it was the truth.

“Only at first, and then…” Leah trailed off. She wanted it to happen naturally, not put any pressure on Fatin or make her think they  _ had _ to have sex that day.

“And then?”

Leah finally kicked off her jeans and turned to look at Fatin, who she had expected to be looking at her. Well, Fatin  _ was _ looking at her, just not at her face. Fatin’s eyes trailed down Leah’s body and Leah felt herself flush. Her gaze wasn’t possessive or leering. It was appreciative and yes, it was full of desire, but Leah didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Instead of answering Fatin’s question, she asked one of her own, “are you just going to stand there gawking or are you going to join me?”

Leah walked into the water before Fatin could respond. She swam out a few feet, water up to her neck, before turning around. She laughed when she saw Fatin hurriedly taking off her clothes and tossing them haphazardly in any direction away from the water.

Fatin ran into the waist-high water, sending large droplets flying everywhere as she waded her way toward Leah. Leah knew the ground beneath Fatin’s feet was about to drop off and just bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She could tell when Fatin stepped off the ledge because her eyes went wide and she made a yelp as the water went from around her stomach to over her head in an instant.

Fatin broke the surface, sputtering. Leah couldn’t help but laugh at the shock on her face. Eyes turned to her. The look inside them was… wild. Leah felt the air leave her lungs. She was snapped back to her surroundings (she had been falling into deep brown eyes) when Fatin splashed at her.

They laughed and splashed at each other for a little while. Leah hadn’t noticed Fatin had been drifting closer until she was only a foot away. The playfulness died as soon as their eyes met. The air was thick and Leah was having trouble breathing. Fatin’s eyes were dark, but the light reflecting off the water made her brown eyes glow and Leah found herself falling down, down,  _ down _ into them, into Fatin. Her gaze dropped to Fatin’s lips and when she looked up, she caught Fatin doing the same.

Leah wasn’t exactly sure which of them had swam closer to the other, maybe they both had, and she didn’t know which of them had initiated it, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Fatin was kissing her and Leah was nipping at Fatin’s bottom lip and Leah’s hands were reaching up to cup Fatin’s face. She caught droplets on her fingers from Fatin’s hair. It was messy and difficult, trying to kick their legs to stay above the surface while keeping their lips locked together.

Her entire body felt hot like it would cause the water around them to start boiling and the tension inside her was driving her mad. She desperately needed Fatin to touch her. Anywhere. She broke the kiss, but didn’t pull away. Leah took her hands from Fatin’s face and searched under the water. Upon finding Fatin’s hands she guided them to her waist, placing them there. Fatin let out a shuddering breath against her lips. Leah kissed her and felt Fatin’s grip tighten, which only spurred her on.

Her arms got wrapped around Fatin’s neck and their bodies got closer. Legs brushed against one another as they kicked to keep themselves afloat. Any large movements and someone’s thigh would have ended very high up between someone else’s legs. Leah almost did it on purpose, but decided against it. It wasn’t how she wanted it to go. And she definitely didn’t want to do it in the water.

Leah pulled away from Fatin’s lips, earning herself a whimper from the other girl. It pulled at something low in her gut. She kissed along Fatin’s jaw and sucked at the spot under her ear. Fatin  _ moaned _ and Leah wanted to hear it again and again. She pulled back.

“I’m ready,” Leah whispered, her breath hot against Fatin’s ear, causing the girl to shiver.

Regrettably, Leah detached herself from Fatin. She swam towards shore, knowing if she had looked at Fatin, she would have never wanted to leave the water.

Once on solid ground, Leah looked around. It finally dawned on her that she hadn't planned out where they were supposed to go. She wondered distantly if Toni and Shelby just laid in the dirt whenever they wandered into the woods to make love. It didn’t sound very pleasant.

She heard Fatin exit the water behind her. Leah wanted to ask her for her opinion on the situation, but when she turned to look at Fatin, she saw her walking around, picking up their clothes. She stood there, negative thoughts racing through her mind. Did Fatin not want this? Had she read all the signs wrong? She watched Fatin walk over to a nearby tree and lay their clothes in the grass, creating a place for them to lay down.  _ Oh. _ Leah felt stupid.

Leah forced her legs to move and came up beside Fatin, who placed the last piece of clothing down on the grass. Fatin looked over at her and shrugged.

“I don’t really like getting grass stains on my clothes, but it’s better than getting stabbed in the back while we’re trying to enjoy ourselves.”

Leah let out a little laugh, her worries from moments before quickly fading away. Fatin looked at her again and Leah shivered at the way her gaze seemed to burn her skin. The laughter died in her throat and she had a hard time swallowing it down. Fatin’s eyes flicked to her lips and that was all it took for Leah to place her hands on her neck and pull her in for a searing kiss.

Fatin’s hands were on her waist, fingers digging into her flesh. They never strayed, only pulled Leah’s body flush against hers. Her whole body was aflame and she was shocked to feel droplets of water sliding down her skin, she wondered why they didn’t just evaporate from all the heat radiating off of her. Fatin tugged at her lip and she let out a moan. Leah felt like she was going crazy, but in a  _ very _ good way.

Fingers flexed against her sides and Leah wanted  _ more _ . She began to kiss down Leah’s neck and all Leah could do was get a grip on Fatin’s hair and breathe.

“Fatin,” it came out husky. She gasped as she felt Fatin suck on a pulse point near her collarbone. “Please touch me.”

The mouth against her skin stilled. A kiss was pressed against the bruise she was sure Fatin had left behind. Fatin moved slowly, hands dragging against Leah’s skin as they moved to the small of her back. Her hands were calloused, but still gentle. She grasped at Leah’s body, needy, but not harshly. It was nothing like how Jeff was and in an instant, his name was completely forgotten. It was replaced by Fatin, Fatin,  _ Fatin _ . 

Leah felt Fatin lean against her and she let her lay her down on the patchwork of clothes on the ground. Fatin knelt between her legs, her hands carefully exploring every inch of Leah’s exposed skin. She continued kissing down her body and Leah exhaled shakily. She never wanted it to stop.

* * *

They laid side-by-side, staring up at the sky overhead, trying to regulate their breathing. Leah wondered absently what time it was. Probably around noon. But, Fatin’s watch had been discarded along with all her clothes before they went for their swim and neither one of them had thought to grab it while Fatin had gathered their clothes to lay on. Whatever time it was, Leah knew they had plenty of daylight left before they had to be back at camp. They had a couple hours to spare and Leah would have felt content to just relax and lay with Fatin under the trees, looking up at passing clouds, if she didn’t have anything nagging away at her.

“I feel kinda crappy.” Leah kept her eyes trained on the sky.

  
  
“Why, what’s wrong?” Fatin had turned to face her and Leah could hear the worry in her voice.

“I just feel like you did all the work and I didn’t even return the favor.”

“Well, did you ever hear me complain about it?” It was said half-jokingly, meant to reassure Leah there was nothing Fatin needed repayment for.

“No.” She didn’t hear Fatin complain once, but Leah still felt unsure.

“Then, there you have it. I really don’t mind.”

There was a lull in the conversation. Leah continued looking up, but could see from the corner of her eye that Fatin had propped herself up on an elbow, looking at her. If she glanced over she was sure she would see only care and concern in those beautiful brown eyes. She didn’t look over, couldn’t handle the softness at the moment.

“It’s just that… weren’t you saying, like, you haven’t had an orgasm since before the island?”

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that now,” Fatin let out a laugh as she said it.

That caught Leah’s attention. She turned her head and took in the smirk on Fatin’s face. Leah’s heartbeat quickened as the realization hit her.

“You  _ didn’t _ ?”

“Oh, but I  _ did _ .” Fatin looked proud. Of herself or of Leah, she wasn’t sure.

“How? I barely even touched you.”

“Apparently you didn’t need to. Just watching you  _ writhing _ underneath me —” Leah felt herself blush at Fatin’s words, the lowness of her voice sent heat straight to her core, she had to look away “— and hearing all those  _ filthy _ noises you were making, I guess that did it for me.”

Leah pressed her legs together. She never knew dirty talk would get her so riled up, it always seemed so silly to think about. But hearing Fatin describe her in such an erotic way made her reevaluate some things.

Leah gasped as she felt a hand being placed on her bare thigh and looked over at Fatin. She stared into Leah’s eyes and trailed her fingers up and down her skin, sending shivers through Leah’s body. She teased her, running her fingers all the way up her thigh, but stopped just before reaching where Leah wanted her and ran her fingers back down again. Her heart thrummed in her ears. She eased her legs open slightly. An invitation.

Fatin raised an eyebrow, then leaned down to kiss Leah deeply. Leah sighed as Fatin’s fingers finally found the place Leah wanted them to be.

That time Leah watched for when Fatin reached her peak. She drank in the sight of Fatin’s mouth slightly agape, her eyebrows pulled together, and the bliss in the dark brown eyes that stared back at her.

They laid side-by-side again, breathing heavily. Leah found Fatin’s hand and laced their fingers together.

“So, I was thinking,” Leah spoke up when she had regained her breath.

“How? You weren’t even able to say more than two words for the past hour.”

Leah wanted to smack her arm, but didn’t have the energy. She settled on a halfhearted “shut up.”

Fatin chuckled, but didn’t say another word. In their joined hands, her thumb began to brush against Leah’s.

“Someone said something yesterday and I realized we haven’t really talked about… what this  _ thing _ between us is.”

Leah internally cringed. It hadn’t come out how she wanted it to and it sounded dismissive of their feelings.  _ Thing _ . She chastised herself for saying it so stupidly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. God,” Leah let out a deep breath and pushed the palm of her free hand into her eyes. She felt Fatin squeeze her other hand reassuringly and it kept her mind from running away from her.

“Toni called you my girlfriend and… I don’t know… we never actually defined our relationship.”

Leah bit her lip. The silence seemed to stretch on forever, but it hadn’t been more than a few seconds.

“Do you want me to be?” Fatin had said it so softly, Leah had a hard time hearing it.

“What?” She stopped rubbing at her eyes and strained her ears for Fatin’s reply.

“Your girlfriend? Do you want me to be your girlfriend?” All of Fatin’s usual confidence was gone. It made Leah turn her head to look at her, but Fatin was looking up at the sky.

“Yes,” she breathed out. “More than anything.”

Fatin looked over at her then. She wore a soft, and dare Leah say it, fragile smile. Her eyes were filled with warmth and it made Leah want to wrap her into her arms and hold her forever.

“Do  _ you _ want to be?” It was a stupid question and Leah mentally kicked herself for it.

Fatin smiled wider and Leah found herself smiling with her.

“I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Leah Rilke.”

They stared into each other’s eyes, smiles beginning to make their cheeks hurt.  _ I love you _ . Leah repeated it to herself, the words made her feel free. She closed the few inches between them and kissed Fatin sweetly, whispering “I love you” into her lips.

They spent the next few hours wrapped up in each other’s arms, making casual observations on the clouds or trailing fingers against the other’s skin. They exchanged soft kisses, nothing as charged as before, but somehow they felt more intimate to Leah than the ones filled with passion.

“We should probably head back,” Leah brought up when she felt a chill that indicated the approaching sunfall.

Fatin just hummed and continued to run her fingers through Leah’s (now dry) hair.

“It’s gonna take us a bit longer to hike back, my legs feel like noodles. I don’t even feel like I can stand.”

Fatin laughed and Leah imagined she was mentally patting herself on the back.

“We could always spend the night out here,” Fatin suggested.

It was tempting, but they hadn’t brought food for dinner or extra clothes to keep warm at night. It was still fun for Leah to toy with the idea, though. She rolled over, almost laying completely on top of Fatin, and looked her in the eyes.

“I could use the time to repay you for how good you were to me today,” to support her proposal, she ran a hand down Fatin’s side and stopped at her hip.

She watched Fatin’s pupils dilate and a smile appear on her lips. Fatin leaned up to kiss her. It was hungry, but still delicate, and not as desperate as the ones from when they made love. Fatin pulled back before it could get any deeper.

“Next time.”

Leah was surprised when Fatin’s words didn’t disappoint her. It wasn’t a rejection, but a promise. Leah smiled and left one last chaste kiss on Fatin’s lips before standing up and helping  _ her girlfriend _ stand as well.

They dressed and left the waterfall as the sun began dipping low in the sky. Leah was sore and exhausted, but her heart was full and Fatin was beside her. Maybe it would take another month for rescue to come and maybe Leah would never unearth the secrets of the island. But none of that bothered her right then, in that moment. She was sure that as long as she had Fatin, and as long as she had the others, that they would all be okay.


End file.
